Avondale Estates Beats Postal Service in Mailbox Battle
The Postal Service won't require new residents of Avondale Estates' historic district to install curbside mailboxes. Mail carriers will deliver to the door.
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Avondale Estates has stamped out the Postal Service's plan to change mail delivery.
The Postal service wanted new residents in the city's historic district to install curbside mailboxes, but gave up that idea after pressure from city hall and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)
"We have decided not to require the new residents in the City of Avondale Estates Historic District to install mailboxes on the street," wrote Salvatore Vacca, Atlanta district manager for the Postal Service, in a Feb. 15 letter to Isakson. (See attachment)
For aesthetic purposes, the city prohibits curbside mailboxes for the 500-some homes and businesses in the historic district. Mail carriers depost letters in mailboxes attached to the house.
The Postal Service went with the plan to cut costs. People who just moved into the historic district were supposed to install curbside mailboxes. If they didn't, they'd have to go to the post office to pick up their mail.
The city commission considered changing its mail box ordinance but decided to fight back. Mayor Ed Rieker said a number of residents complained, leading the city to enlist the help of elected officials, including Isakson.
"A happy conclusion was reached by all parties to maintain the integrity of the historic district," Rieker said.
Rieker said only "a handful" of people put up curbside mailboxes. They can take down those mailboxes and install mailboxes by the door.
The historic district includes the long two-story Tudor building on North Avondale Road and stretches into the residential areas down to Lake Avondale. (See attached map.) People outside the historic district need curbside mailboxes.
Stephen
10:13 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Self centered. NIMBY. Make spending cuts anywhere, as long as it doesn't affect me.
Calamari
10:54 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Meanwhile, I have to pay for a po box and pick up my own mail, so that it won't get stolen off the street...i.e., I'm paying extra for less service, while they pay nothing extra for special service. Privileged, anyone??
Warnin ToU
2:16 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Dear Calimari and Stephen. I don't live in Avondale Estates but I can assure you that these people are paying for the service they receive and have been paying for it for years via higher taxes. You two probably pay less tax combined than any of the homeowners in question. Additionally, this is not a benefit that ONLY those in Avondale Estates receive. Have you ever been to the Bronx, Brooklyn, Baltimore or Beverly Hills? Many residents still have their mail delivered to the front door. My mother lives in a rural town in South Carolina and her mail is delivered to her front door daily. As for the postal service cutting cost, they have many other ways to cut but would probably be better off seeing what UPS and Fed Ex do right and improving their service to compete with those guys. A business never grew by cutting service.
Marilyn Montlick
5:40 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Postal service is funded through the sales of stamps and other postal products. No one's taxes are used to pay for mail delivery!
contented-NOT
7:46 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
GOOD WORK MAYOR ED RIEKER!! I am very happy with the current home delivery mail system and even happier that it will CONTINUE.
Ms.
9:13 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
I lived in DC many years, and knew my postman who went door to door. It's nice, but if cuts have to be made to save the postal service, or at least get it back in working order, everything needs to be looked at. You may or may not know, that in many places people actually have to go pick up their mail, it doesn't even make it to their house. This is actually a great gas and air quality saver, and if something like that needs to be done to avoid completely privatizing, I'd be willing to do my part. It just doesn't sound like anyone else is interested. If people need what are now considered "extra" services because they are elderly or disabled, fine. But able bodied people who can't be bothered to walk their rears to a box- Absurd. As far as aesthetics- Are the homes on W. Paces Ferry less grand than Avondale because they have boxes?